Two children injured, two pets killed, in early morning house fire

Two young twin girls were hospitalized early Sunday, May 14, 2017, after a fire broke out in the basement apartment of their Magna home. A GofFundMe account has been set up to help the girls, who are expected to remain in ICU for weeks.

MAGNA — Two young children were hospitalized early Sunday after a fire broke out in their basement apartment, according to police.

Unified Police Lt. Brian Lohrke said two children were transported to a local hospital in critical condition and later upgraded to serious.

But according to a GoFundMe Page set up to help the family, the young girls —twins — will be in the hospital for a while. And the mother of the girls, Nicole Peck, posted on her Facebook page that one of her daughters was expected to be in a medically induced coma for two weeks.

"She has an airway tube to breathe and is hooked up to a machine to help her breathe and is getting a feeding tube placed in tomorrow," she wrote. "I am numb."

The fire was reported about 2:50 a.m. at 3193 Montclair St. (7720 West). It is believed to have started in the basement kitchen area, said Unified Fire Authority spokesman Matthew McFarland. The cause of the fire was still under investigation Sunday.

"Our apartment caught fire and my twins have smoke inhalation and will be in the ICU for a month or so and cannot afford it. If you can find in your heart to spare some change for medical bills and everything in our house that was destroyed which was everything. Thank you for anything you can spare," according to the campaign set up by Tyler Peck.

Nicole Peck's Facebook post states one of her daughters could be sent home from the hospital in a few days.

The house was divided into two apartments. McFarland said the fire created quite a bit of smoke that filled the basement unit.

A dog and a cat that were also in the basement apartment were killed, fire officials confirmed.

At least four people were believed to be in the home at the time of the fire. Everyone out of the house before emergency crews arrived because they were alerted by a working smoke detector, McFarland said.

A Red Cross spokesperson tweeted that the adults were not seriously injured, and the girls are about 2 years old.